Heel concaving machine



May 18, 1943 G. cLAuslNvG HEEL CONCAVING MACHINE Fll'ed April 11, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet l Fig.

"iNvENToR George Clquslng May 18, 1943 l G. cLAuslNG 2,319,298

HEEL. coNcAvmG MACHINE Flled April l1, '1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 Fig". 2.

VE Sgo 49.

12v/AN", George Clausihg May.18, 1943 y G. cLAusING 2,319,298'

I HEEL CONCAVING MACHINE Flled April 11, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fie. A. A

O' O 66 O l May 18, 1943 G. CLAUslN I HEEL CONCAVING MACHINE F'zled April ll, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 aaJ q a W r Fig.

/ INVENTOR l George Clousmg Pil May 18, A1943 G. cLAuslNs 2,319,298

HEEL CONGAVING MACHINE Flled April 1l, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented May 18, 1943 HEEL CONCAVING MACHINE George Clausing, Portsmouth, Ohio, assigner to Vulcan Corporation Application April 11, 1941, serial No. 388,113

9y Claims. (Cl. 12-46) A l planks are then divided into strips, which are This invention relates to improvements in machines for executing a shoe heel forming operation commonly called concaving. The concaving machine cuts a concavity in the attaching face of the heel. This concavity and the surrounding Wall structure of the upper portion of the hee1 is known as they hee1 seat. This concavity permits the heel portion of the convex bottom face of the lasted shoe to be neatly received therein when the heel is attached to the shoe.

The concaving operation desirably is performed after the other principal heel shaping operations have been completed. vThe depth of the concavity varies slightly in different heel styles and sizes, but may beconsideredon an average, to be approximately one quarter of an inch. In executing the cut, the sweep of the cutterblades at the peripheral portions of the seat, approaches quite closely to the outside surfaces of the side and back areas of the hee1, thus producing a relatively thin heel seat wall and a narrow at rim at the top of the wall. -The con-` tour of the rear outer surface of a. heel slopes sharply inward as it progresses downward, thereby presenting a relatively small acute angle with the plane of the heel rim. The concaving operation has, therefore, prior to the present invention, produced a thin delicate wall at this portion of the hee1 seat. This thin wall is structurally weak and subject to breakage. This fact is borne out by the high percentage of breakage which occurs at this portion of the heelduring its manufacture and subsequent handling. The present invention has been developed to overcome excessive waste due to breakage arising from the weakness of` the hee1 seat.

Another factor which further reduces the strength of the rear portion of the heel seat is the fact that the wood fibers which constitute the rear portion of the heel seat are extremely short. In fact, they are practically as short as the wall thickness. Obviously, a thin wood section in which the direction of the wood bers extend transversely from face to 'face thereof constitutes a physically weak structure. A re-arrangement of the direction of the fibers might appear to be a solution of this diflculty. Such practice, however, is not practical, as will appear from the following. It has been found, through many years of experience, that the most practical and economical method of producing heel blocks from a log follows a definite series of operations in which the logs are divided into planks having a thickness corresponding to the height requirement ofthe heels to be manufactured. The

adequate in Width, to allow heels of the required over-all size to beproduced therefrom. In the strips thus formed, the wood grain extends substantially lengthwise. I-Ieel blocks are then produced from the strips by cuting them transversely into sections suiciently long to enable a hee1 of required length from back to frontvto be produced therefrom. As a result of this procedure, the Wood grain extends substantially straight from back to front in each block. The rear wall o'f the heel seat of a completed heel is, therefore, composed of extremely short fibers and for reasons above pointed out, is I relativelyweak in structure. It will be noted vthatthe side walls of the seat are not as delicate in stucture as the the sides of the heel are suiciently tough and resistant to adequately withstand the shock and stresses to which they are subjected prior to and during the attaching of the heel to the shoe, as well as duringthe life of the shoe to which it is attached. '1 The present invention strengthens the heel seat by increasing the wall thickness at its weakest point; namely, at its rear portion. While it is possible under the principles of the invention to vary the wall thickness at anyy portion of the hee1 seat, practical necessity requires only that the rear portion of the Wall be strengthened. The'invention will, therefore, be described with adjustments so developed that the rear Wall of the hee1 seat will automatically be increased in thickness during the concaving operation, which will .also increase the Width of the rim at this portion of the heel. By increasing the wall thickness 'at the rear of the heel seat, the wood fibers are lengthened, which, together with the added thickness of the wall, entirely overcomes breakage which has heretofore been unavoidable. The side wall thickness of the heel seat advantageously remains normal.

There are existing machines for concaving heels, such as that illustrated in the U. S. Patent to W. B. Brooks, #2,065,645. In concaving a heel in a machine of this type, it has been the practice to guide the heel during the cut in such manner, that the cutting tool is maintained at an invariable distance from the heel seat periphery, thereby producing a rim and wall of uniform thickness. The present invention increases the scope of the concaving machine by introducing an automatic attachment for varying the thickness of the heel seat wall at a selected portion of the heel seat. V

The concaving machine, to which the invention is applied, comprises a supporting' frame work presenting a, work surface along which the heel is fed to execute the concaving operation. A driven cutter projects upwardly through an opening in the work surface, the degre to which the cutter projects determining the depth of concave. The attaching face of the block is held down firmly upon the Working surface during cycle of operation of the concaving machine elements, to increase the distance between the cutter and gauge while the rear portion of the heel seat wall is being formed, thereby increasing the wall thickness at that portion of the seat. By

suitable adjustments, other portions of the heel seat wall may be increased in thickness. It is within the scope of the .invention tormove the rim gauge or to move the axial position of the cutter while the position of the gauge remains fixed. In either case, proper relative movement between the elements achieves the desired increase in Wall thickness.

To provide a better understanding of the invention, a selected embodiment thereof will be described in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the machine embodying the invention. Y

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine.

Fig. 3 is a plan View of the means for driving the heel holding 'and feeding jack with portions broken away. Y

Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan View of the heel rim varying mechanism.

Fig. 5 is va cross sectional view on line 5 5, Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a cross section on line 6 6, Fig.'4..

Fig. 7 is a cross section on line 1 1, Fig. 3.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of a heel produced in the practice of the invention.

Fig. 9' is a cross section on line 9 9, Fig. 8.

Figs. 10, l1 and 12 are diagrammatic vievvsillustrating the relative position of the heel with respect to the cutter and rim gauge at three different stages of Vthe concaving operation.

Fig. 13 is a plan view of the machine partially in section illustrating another form `of mechanism for executing the rim widening operation.

In the selected embodiment of the invention illustrated, the several components that comprise the machine' are mounted-upon a supporting frame I5. At the .forward end of the machine, a work table I6 is provided, vsituated at aj convenient working height and presenting'a Vwork face I1 upon which the heel 'i8 is'received 'and along which it is fed during the concaving operation. The cutting operation is executed by means of a cutter I 9 having a radius equal to the radius of the concavity of the heel seat to be produced. The cutter I9 is mounted upon a cutter shaft 20 which is situated beneath the table I6 and journaled in bearings 2I fixed rigidly upon the -frame I5.

The cutter desirably is driven by a motor 22 secured to the frame I5. Any suit-able means may be employed for transmitting power from the motor to the cutter shaft 20, such as the belt 23 traveling over pulleys upon the motor shaft and the cutter shaft. The pulley upon the motor shaft desirably is of greater diameter than the pulley on the cutter shaft, thereby obtaining the necessary high speed of the cutter to smoothly execute the cutting operation. The cutter is of the type commonly employed for cutting operations of this character, having a plurality of round nosed cutting teeth. An aperture is provided in the table I6 through which the upper portion of the cutter I9 projects. The amount of projection of the cutter above the plane of the work surface I1 determines the depth of the heel concave. The manner in which the heel is fed to the cutter will be described in detail hereinafter.

Mechanical means'are provided for receiving, holding and imparting the correct feeding motion to the heel during the cutting operation. The heel is received between a pair of clamping jaws 24 embracing opposite sides of the heel and spring pressed inwardly to firmly hold the heel in position. Each jaw is provided with a pair of contact fingers 25, which desirably are padded to prevent injury to the heel. The fingers are so positioned that when the heel is received therebetween. its breast face is pressed against a positioning stop 2S and it is also firmly held against lateral displacement. The jaws 24 are pivoted upon the lower end of a pair of supporting posts 21. A suitable mechanism is provided for swinging the jaws 24 from releasing position into clamping position when the heel is placed therein and for swinging them into releasing position after the operation is finished. This mechanism desirably is automatic in its operation; but,inasmuch as it forms'no part of the present invention, it will not lbe described. The jaws 24 are positioned above the work face I1 with the fingers 25 engaging the sloping sides of the heel. The feeding movement of the jaws takes place in a plane maintained'parallel to and at a fixed distance from the work -face I1, thereby maintaining the heel in sliding engagement with the work face throughout the concaving operation. I i y The posts 21 extend, vertically upward and are attached rigidly to a driven heel manipulating carriage indicated generally at 28. The carriage 28 is supported upon and has movement with respect to a swinging arm 2S which is pivoted at `30 upon a supporting member 3I secured to the frame I5. The lower portion of the carriage 28 is composed of a block 32 within which a slide 33 is received. The posts 21 are secured to the-'slide 33. A screw 34 serves to adjust the relative position between the heel clamped withinA the jaws 24 and the bodily position of the carriage 28. The path of the heel asV it is presented to the cutter and progresses through its complete cycle of movement is determined by a driven generally elliptical gear 35, which is provided with a downwardly-extending neck 'or boss 36 to which 'the block 32 is rigidly fixed. This connection of the gear to the block 32 vcompletes the unitary carriage structure 28. Y

The gear35 is received within the chamber 31 in the outer end of the arm 29 and is guided for movement in a horizontal plane between the top and bottom walls of thechamber. To provide for motion of the carriage 28, an aperture 38 is provided in the bottom wall of the chamber within which the boss 35 may move. The gear 35 is generally elliptical in shape, its end portions being circular, one end being substantially larger in radius than the other. The shape of the gear 35 is illustrated best in Fig. 3.` -The two circular end portions are connected by sections which are subst'antially straight and meet the circular end portions'tang'entially. The center of the rear circular portion of the seat of the heel I8 when it is clamped between the jaws 24 substantially coincides with the axis A of the larger circular end section of the gear 35. The gear 35 has no fixed axis, but is free to float in a horizontal plane. Rotary motion is imparted to the'gearby means of a driven pinion gear 39 which meshes with gear teeth 4U at the lower portion of the periphery of the gear. The upper portion of the periphery of the gear 35 presents a fiat bearing surface 4 I, which presents a vertical wallv parallel to the pitch line of the teeth on the gear. The upper portion of the pinion 39 is cylindrical and of such diameter that it will engage the surface 40 of the gear 35 when its teeth are correctly meshed with the gear 35. The surface 4I also engages an idler roll 42, which is pivotally supported within the chamber 31 and spaced from the pinion 39.

Y Suitable means are provided for maintaining engagement of the gear 35 with'the pinion 39 and idler 42. To accomplish this, the gear 35 is provided with an inner vertical peripheral Wall 43 against. which a roll 44 is yieldingly pressed. The roll 44 is situated to engage .the gear 35 at a position intermediate its points of Contact with the pinion gear 39 and the idler roll 42. The roll 44 is pivotally mounted upon one end of a lever 45 which in turn is fulcrumed at 46 upon the upper wall of the chamber 31. One `end of a tension spring 41 is secured to the free end of the lever while its other end is anchored to a fixed point on the arm 29. The vroll 44 is thusl resiliently urged toward the pinion 39 and the idler 42 and acts to maintain the gear 35 in its proper relation with these two elements.

The width of the heel rim and consequently thethickness of the peripherial portionrof the heel seat wall is determined by the position of a heel rim gauge 48 with respect to the cutter I9. The gauge 48 is situated upon the work face I1 with itsgauging surface 49 closely adjacent the periphery of the cutting teeth of the cutter. The separation of these two elements is normally about three sixtyffourths of an inch, at the plane of -the work face I1, which produces a rim of that width upon the heel. An adjusting mechanism is provided to vary the setting of the gauge 43. This adjust1nent,however, is closely associated with the novel features of the invention and will, therefore, be described hereinafter, in connection with the presentation of those features.

The gauge 48 is held firmly against the work surface I1 by means of a spring 50 which surrounds and expands lengthwise against the head of 'a stud 5I secured in the bottom face of the gauge. The end of the spring 59 opposite that 'end which engages the head of the stud, engages the lower `face of the work table I6. A slot is provided in the work table to permit the stud to move when the gauge moves. The gauge is also provided with a downwardly depending boss received in a slot 52 in the work table I6. The slot 52 extends at right angles to the cutter axis and acts to guide the gauge 48 in a straight line as it is moved toward and from the cutter.

The gear 39 is secured upon a vertical shaft 53 journaled in a bearing 54 secured upon the arm 29. Upon the upper end of the shaft 53 apulley 55 is secured. A driving belt 5B passes over thc pulley 55 and also a pulley 51. V'Ihe pulley 51 is fixed upon the upper end of a driving shaft 58 which extends downwardly through and has bearing in a support 3 I. Thelower endof the shaft 58 has secured thereon a w'ormgear 59, which in turn is driven by a Worm 60 meshing therewith. The Worm and gear are desirably contained in a housing 5I. The worm 60 is connected to the shaft of a motor 62.` Any suitable source of power may, however, be employed to drive the pulley 55 and the gear 39.

It will be noted that the axis of the pivot point, about which the arm 29 swings, coincides with the axis of the shaft 58, As the'arm 29 swings about its pivot, therefore, the center distance between the pulley 55 and 51 remains fixed. The arm 29 is maintained in a neutral position, when no heel is being manipulated, by means of a tenu sion spring 63 anchored at one end upon the arm 29 and at its other end upon a bracket arm .64 fixed upon the frame I5. The vbracket 64 has a horizontal extension within which is adjustably received a stop screw 65, against Ywhich the side wall of the outer chambered end of the arm 29 is held by the spring 63. Desirably, means are provided for adjusting the tension of the spring 63. This may conveniently be accomplished by by securing the spring to a threadedV stud 65.which passes through an aperture in the web of the bracket B4 and upon which is received` a thumb nut 61 engaging the bracket web. During the concaving operation the spring 63 acts 'to yield-` ingly maintain the peripherial edge of the seat of the heel in engagement with the gauge 48.v`

The elements of the machine thus vfar .described are well known in the art and Y'arein general similar'to those disclosed in'the .above mentioned patent. The followingV description deals with novel subjectmatter which constitutes the present invention. Before continuing the description of the novel structure, maybe advantageous to describe the general operation'of the machine. In Figs. 1 and 3 the machine elements are shown in a neutral or stop' position. At this time, the heel is placed between the iingers 24 with itslattaching face upon the work surface and its breast engaging the stop 26. The cutter driving motor 221s set in motion and may desirably be keptin motion While lthe machine is in use. VThe carriage 28 is then set'in motion by controlling the motor 62 or ingany other desirable manner. The initial movement of the carriage causes the breast' surface' of the heel to-approach the cutter. Beforethe cutting action begins, however, the peripherialj'edge of the heel engages the face 49 of the gaugell.. The path of the heel is so adjusted that its'e'ngagement with the gauge will cause a-slight reactive movement of the arm 29, 'which moves away from its engagement with the stop screw 55 and applies the required amount of. pressure between the heel and gauge, as determined by the tension in the spring 63. Continued movement of the gear 35 feeds the heel into; 'cutting relation with the cutter. The first'sta'ge of the cut follows along the side of the seat which contacts the gauge, during which time, the heel moves substantially straight into the cut. This portion of the cut is illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. of the drawings.

When the cutting plane reaches a position opposite the heel axis 38, the gear 35 will have moved to a position with respect to the drive gear 39 and idler Wheel 42, where its continued movement will cause the heel to rotate about its axis A with substantially no bodily movement, during which time, the cutter forms the rear portion of the seat of the heel. This motion takes place while the large circular portion of the gear 35 is traversing the pinion 39 and idler 42. This stage of the concaving operation is illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. l1 of the drawings. As the gear continues to rotate, its relatively straight portion extending between the circular end por tions arrives adjacent the pinion 39 and idler 42, at which time, the cutters execute the final portion of their concaving operation along the Side of the heel and complete their work at the breast corner. At this time, the smaller circular end portion cf the gear arrives at the driving pinion 39. The remaining portion of the revolution of the gear 35 then is consummated and takes place at a relatively high rotative speed occasioned by the small radius of this portion of the gear. During this latter portion of the revolution of the gear, the heel is swung outward away from the cutter and back to its starting position, in a substantially elliptical path. The rotation of the gear 35 is then stopped and the completely concaved heel is removed from the carriage and another heel to be concaved is inserted. During the complete operation, the width of the heel rim andthe walls of the heel seat, are determined by the relative position of the cutter and the gauge 48.

The invention resides in providing a means for varying the widthv of the rim of the heel at a selected portion of the heel seat. Preferred embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings-one of which moves the gauge 48 with respect to the cutter axis, while the other form of the invention, shown in Fig. 13, moves the cutter with respect to a fixed adjustment of the gauge. The required movement of the gauge or cutter may be derived from any suitable source. It has been found desirable, however, to obtain this movement from some element on the machine which functions in a fixed timed relation to the cycle of operation of the functional elements of the machine, thus assuring automatic accurately synchronized operation. An effective way in which to obtain the necessary motion is to derive it from a cam, in which case, the extent and character of the motion can readily be obtained and maintained uniform. The mechanism illustrated for obtaining the desired result comprises a cam 88 which'is rigidly secured in axial alignment to a gear 69. The gear and cam are rotatably mounted upon a vertical stud shaft 18 fixed upon a bracket 1l securely mounted upon the swinging arm 29. The gear 59 meshes with and is driven by a gear 12 secured upon the shaft 53. The driving ratio between the gear 12 and the gear 68 is the same as the ratio between the driving gear 39 and the gear 35, thereby maintaining a fixed time cycle between the movement of the cam 68 and the gear 35, which manipulates the heel I8 during the cutting operation.

' drawings.

The cam roll 13 rengages the face of the cam 68 and is rotatably received in the end of a lever 14. The lever 14 is rigidly secured to the upper end of a hollow shaft 15 which rotates upon a iixed shaft 16 extending therethrough. The upper end of the shaft 16 is secured in the outer end of a supporting bracket 11 which in turn is secured to the bracket 64. The lower end of the shaft 16 is secured in an anchor plate 18 secured upon the machine frame l5. The lower end of the shaft 15 has secured thereto or integral therewith a horizontally extending arm 19. In the outer end of the varin 19 a downwardly extending pin is secured. The pin 80 is received between adjacent faces of a pair of collars 8| which in turn. are secured to a rod 82 by means of set screws 83. The rod 82 is situated in line with the heel rim gauge 48 and has screw threaded engagement therewith whereby the relation between the position of the collars 8l and the gauging face 49 may be adjusted by rotating the rod 82. The outer end of the rod 82 extends through and is freely movable in an aperture 84 in a supporting plate 85 secured to the work table I6. The outer extremity of the rod has secured thereon a thumb nut 86 by means of which the rod is rotated to execute the adjustment above referred to. A compression spring 81 surrounds the outer end of the rod and engages the thumb nut 86 at one end and the outer face of the support at its other end. The expansive force of the spring, therefore, urges the rod toward the left, as shown in Fig. 4, causing the hollow shaft 15 to rotate in a clockwise direction by reason of engagement of the pin 88 with the collars 8|. The rotation of the shaft 15 causes the lever 14 to move toward the cam 68 and causes the roll 13 to engage the cam face. The roll 13,V is therefore, held in engagement with the cam at all times by the spring 81. It will thus be apparent that the shape of the cam determines the position of the rim gauge with respect to the cutter and consequently the heel rim width.

It is possible to vary the heel seat rim width in any manner by suitably shaping the cam 68. It is particularly desired to produce a heel having a seat constructed as that shown in Figs. 8 and 9, wherein the back portion 88 of the heel seat is substantially increased in width having a maximum width-at the extreme rear portion of the heel and becoming narrower at the sides of the seat until its width coincides with the normal width of vthe rim at the side portions. A cam for producing such a heel is shown in the The cam face is concentric with the axis upon which it rotates for approximately 250 of its circumference. While the roll traverses this concentric portion of the cam face, the rim gauge 48 is held stationary. The remaining or active portion 89 of the cam is flattened or depressed from a concentric form which causes the lever 14 to swing inward toward the cam axis as the roll 13 passes over it, thus rotating the hollow shaft 15 and by reason of the engagement of the pin 89 with the collars 8| moves the gauge 48 away from the cutter I9. The heel itself will move with the gauge as a result of the constant tension of the spring 63 tending to swing the arm 29 clockwise about the shaft 58. The timing of the active portion 89 of the cam is so adjusted that it will engage the roll 13 while the rear portion of the heel seat is presented to the gauge 48. To produce a correct rim width at the sides of the heel seat, the

sauge 48 is, adjusted Whiletheafm m11 13 is .engagingthev concentric-portions of the cam to produce a rim width of three sixty-fourths of van'inch or whatever'the required dimensionmay heel rim, is substantially increased. The cycle of operation ofthe elements asl above described may readily be followed by referring to Figs. 10, 11 and 12 which illustrate the production of the .narrow portion of the heel rim'at the heel sides vand, the widened-portion at the back of the heel.

" It is within the scope ofthe present invention to Varythe rim width by varying' the distance between the gauge 48 and the cutter, either by Vmechanicallymoving the gauge away from the cutter, which isvheld in fixed axial position, or

by ,mechanically moving the cutter away from the gauge; ,-'Ifhe former means has been described' above. A preferred construction of the Ymachinejforaccomplishing the latter result is Yillustrated in Fig. 13 of the drawings.

Inthis construction, the motionv which Yis imparted to the cutter, is derived from the same source vas that for moving the gauge 48; namely, the cam 98, the lever 14 and the shafts 15 and 18. The

hollow shaft 15 is supported upon the shaft 76,

the lower end of which is received in the anchor plate 'I8 in the same manner as hereinbefore described. The arm 19, however, is eliminated and the arm 99 substituted therefor. This arm extends rearwardly of the machine in the opposite direction from that assumed by the arm 19. One end of a link 9| is pivotally connected to the arm 99. The other end of the link 9| is connected to a movable bearing block 92 which is slidable at right angles to the axis of the cutter shaft 28, within guideways 93, which in turn, are securely fastened to the lower face of the work table I6. The connection of the link 9| to the arm 98 may be in the form of a pivot pin 94, which extends downward through an opening in the work table i5. A self aligning bearing 95 is secured to the under face of the block 92 and receives the cutter end of the shaft 29. The end of the shaft remote from the cutter is rotatably supported in another self aligning bearing 96 secured to the machine frame I5. In operation as the cam rotates the lever 14 moves to rotate the shaft 15 in a clockwise direction, which through the lever 99 moves the block 92 inward carrying the shaft 28 with it, thus moving the cutter away from the rim gauge 48 which remains stationary. This swinging movement of the cutter shaft is permitted by the selfaligning bearings. An equivalent result is thus achieved to that produced by the mechanism first herein described.

The proper adjustment to obtain the desired normal rim width at the heel sides is obtained by adjustment of the position ofthe gauge 48 er the position of the cutter or by adjusting both the position of the cutter and the gauge. The adjustment of the gauge 48 is accomplished by rotation of the rod 82 which has screw threaded connection with the gauge and is itself held against axial movement by reason of engagement of -a collar 91.With the inner face .of the plate 85 and the engagement ofjthe-thumbnut .88 upon lthe outer face ofthe plate 85. A.

Adjustment of thecutter posltion 1s obtained by varying the length of the two part ,link 9|,

which is provided with a stud 98 having right ,hand threads on one end and left hand threads on its other end, its threaded ends respectively having threaded engagement with the two sections of the-link. The length of the link is varied by rotating the stud` 98 and after the proper adjustment has been secured the stud is locked in position by means of thelock nuts 99.V

I claim:

l. In a machine for concaving heels, a cutter,

, a heel holding jack .operable to feed the heel into the cutter, a gauge against which the .peripherial Vedge of the attaching face of the hee1 is held by said jack during its cutting operation, and acting to guide it in a predetermined path .with respect to the cutter and automatic means tovary vthe relative position of said gauge and cutter during the cutting operation to vary the wall thickness and rim width of the heel seat.

2.V In a machine for concaving heels, a table, a cutter, a hee1 holding jack operable to feed the heel along the table rinto cutting relation with the cutter, a gauge against which the edge of the attaching face of the hee1 is held by said jack during the cutting operation and automatic means for controlling the vposition of the gauge with respect to the cutter during the cutting operation, thereby to vary the wall thickness and rim width `of the hee1 seat.

3. In a machine for concaving heels, a table, a cutter projecting through the table, a jack for holding a hee1, automatic means for feeding the heel and jack into the cut by sliding the hee1 along the table upon its attaching face, a gauge on .the table adjacent the cutter against which the edge of the attaching face of the heel is held by said jack during the cutting operation and means acting in timed relation to the cycle of operation of said jack for controlling the relative position of the gauge and cutter during the cutting operation, thereby to vary the wall thickness and rim width of the heel seat.

4. In a hee1 concaving machine, aflat smooth work surface, a cutter projecting upward through said work surface, a heel jack adapted to hold the attaching face of'the heel in contact with the said work surface, means for moving the heel jack to cause the hee1 to slide upon said work face in a predetermined path,.a movable heel rim gauge positioned upon the work face adjacent said cutter, against which the peripherial edge of the heel attaching surface is held by said jack during the cutting operation and means acting in timed relation to the travel of the hee1 during the cutting operation for controlling the position of the gauge with respect to the cutter, thereby to vary the wall thickness and rim width of the heel seat.

5. In a hee1 concaving'machine, a work surface, a driven cutter, a heel jack for feeding the heel along said work face into engagement with the cutter to execute the concaving operation, a rim gauge on said work face adjacent said cutter, means acting to cause the peripherial edge of the attaching face of the heel to continuously contact the gauge during the cutting operation and automatic means acting in timed relation to motion of said jack to control the relative position of the cutter with respect to the gauge thereby to vary the wall thickness and rim width of the heel seat in a predetermined manner.

6. In a heel concaving machine, a work surface, a driven cutter, a heel jack for holding and feeding the heel along said work face into engagement with the cutter to execute the concaving operation, a rim gauge on said work face adjacent said cutter, means acting to cause the peripherialedge of the attaching face of the heel to yieldingly contact the gauge during the cutting operation and means acting to control the relative distance between said cutter and said gauge, thereby to Vary the wall thickness and rim width of the heel seat in a predetermined manner.

'7. In a heel concaving machine, a work surface, a driven cutter extending upward through said work surface, a rim gauge on said work surface adjacent the cutter, acting to determine the wall thickness and rim width of the heel seat, a jack acing to hold and feed the heel along said work surface and against said gauge during the execution of the concaving operation, means for rotating said jack one revolution during each machine cycle and means acting in timed relation to the revolution of the jack to vary the relative position between said cutter and said gauge, thereby to Vary thewall ,thickness and rim width of the heel seat.

8. In a Vheel concaving machine, a work surface, a driven cutter extending upward through said work surface, a heel rim gauge on said work surface adjacent said cutter, guided for movement in a predetermined path on said work surface toward and away from said cutter and acting with the cutter to determine the heel rim width and heel seat wall thickness, a jack acting to hold and feed the heel along said work face with its attaching face thereagainst and its peripherial edge against said gauge during the eX- ecution of the concaving operation, means for rotating said jack through on revolution for each machine cycle, a cam driven in timed relation to the rotation of said jack and means acting to transmit motion from said cam to said gauge whereby the gauge is moved with respect to said cutter to vary the width of the heel rim and heel seat wall thickness.

9. In a heel concaving machine, a work surface, a driven cutter extending upward through said work surface, a rim gauge on said work surface adjacent said cutter, operable to determine the wall thickness and rim width of the heel seat, a jack for holding a heel, means for feeding the jack to cause the heel to move along said work surface with the peripherial edge ci its seat engaging said rim gauge during the execution of the concaving operation, means for rotating said jack one revolution for each machine cycle, and means acting in timed relation to the revolution of said jack to move said cutter bodily with respect to said gauge in a predetermined manner, thereby to vary the wall thickness and rim width of the heel seat.

GEORGE CLAUSING. 

